President Barack Obama hugs Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., left, after Lewis spoke at the groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Obama releases early radio ad pandering to black voters

President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign will release its first radio ad targeted specifically at the African-American community on Tuesday in an unusually aggressive, early effort to rally blacks behind the president.

The ad, titled “We’ve got your back,” begins with a male narrator declaring, “Four years ago, we made history. … We have to show the president we have his back.”

The ad continues with several quotes from the president’s speeches: “We can’t afford to spend the next four years going backwards. … I refuse to pay for another millionaire’s tax cut by kicking children off of Head Start programs.”

According to theGrio, advertisements targeted toward African-Americans are typically released much later in the election season, in coordination with efforts to increase turnout.

“The timing of advertising to African-Americans, and the magnitude of ad spending with media outlets targeting or owned by African-Americans, has long been a source of tension between black media and the Democratic Party,” according to theGrio.

In the 2008 election, Obama carried an overwhelming 96 percent of black voters. But blacks are currently unemployed at a rate of 13.9 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics — the highest rate of any minority group.

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